So long Arts Council, hello Morris Arts

They say life begins at 40. That seems true for the Arts Council of the Morris Area, which starts its fifth decade with a new name, a new logo and a new mission.

Morris Arts, the new moniker, “rolls off the tongue like our old name didn’t,” Executive Director Tom Werder told a conference room packed with artists, patrons and dignitaries on Thursday in Morristown.

New name and logo for the former Arts Council of the Morris Area. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

The new logo is … a swirl of paint…or piano keys… or a stage…or whatever else you perceive. Plans call for an online contest to name the mark, designed by John Weber. A social media consultant also has been hired.

But the biggest change, Tom said, is the new mission statement: “To engage and build community through the arts.”

“It sounds simple, but it’s substantive,” said Tom, who was hired last year after discussions were under way to revamp the Morristown-based organization, which serves parts of Somerset, Sussex and Union counties in addition to Morris County.

The Arts Council had promoted the arts within the community. Morris Arts aims to use art to create communities.

“It’s not just something you do on the side, as a luxury,” Tom explained. “It’s an essential piece of what makes this community great.”

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He cited efforts by staffer Kadie Dempsey to help Boonton galleries band together for monthly First Friday tours, which he credited with helping rejeuvenate the downtown.

Morris Arts also is establishing an endowment as a hedge against lean times, announced Morris Arts President Alan Levitan. Nearly $100,000 already has been pledged, said Alan, who plans to step down this summer after eight years on the board.